Her Heart's Playlist
by Max6259
Summary: Max is a normal studant at Beverly Beverly high and doesn't really think much of love and romance. But then he falls for someone and everything changes. Now he has to protect her from the one who wants to take her from him. Does he have the strength? Or will he be unable to defend then one he loves? Accidentaly called Shanilla Mia in the first chapter. Don't hate. Read and Review.
1. Saving Me

Max looked up at his school. "Here we go again." he said to himself as he walked through the doors. It was Monday, February 9th. Everybody was talking about Valentines Day. It was the same thing every year. Rejeev was repeatedly asking Lolo to be his valentine, Cleet was asking any girl who looked alone to go with him to the dance, Spencer was telling everyone how he was going to make "Zombie Valentine", and send it to a professional producer... you get the idea. He walked up to his first class. English. As he stepped through the door someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around. "Hey Max!" Mallory said, handing him a flyer for the valentines dance. "Remember to bring a date!" She said smiling at him. Max looked at the flyer. He handed it back to her. "No thanks." he said handing it back to her. "I've never really been one of those guys who get girls and like parties." Mallory passed it back to him. "Keep it anyway." she said, brushing a stray hair out of her face. "You might change your mind." "I doubt it." he said. She smiled at him again. Max blushed and looked away. He always blushed when she smiled at him. "I gotta go." she said looking, at her watch. "See you later." she said as she ran to catch up with her friends. "Bye." he said. He sat down at his desk and listened to his teacher talk about great writers, like J. and Dougles Adams... At lunch, he found himself thinking about the dance. He pulled the flyer out of his backpack. 'Maybe I will go.' he thought. 'If i find the right girl.' Rejeev, Miya and Spencer sat down next to him, interrupting his thoughts. "Hey Max." Spencer said. "What's up?" "Nothing" Max said, quickly putting the flyer in his pocket. "Guess what!" Rejeev said excitedly, leaning closer to Max. Max decided to humour him. "What?" he said shooting Rejeev a sarcastic smile. "I've got a date to the Valentines Dance." Rejeev said, grinning stupidly. Max was slightly interested. "Who is it? The gorilla down at the Zoo? Isn't she a little out of your league?" Max said. He smiled nonchalantly as everyone but Rejeev burst into hysterical laughter. "Very funny." said Rejeev. "But seriously, who?" said Spencer, wiping a tear from his eye. "Sarah Connely." Rejeev said triumphantly. We stared in awe. Sarah Connely was the best looking, most popular girl in the school. Sarah walked up to Rejeev and kissed him on the cheek. Her blonde hair shone in the sunlight. "That's right." she said. We still couldn't speak. He grinned smugly and walked away, his arm around Sarah's waist. After they had walked away, Spencer put his arm around Miya. "I'm taking Miya." he said. "Who are you taking?" he asked. Max shrugged. "Who knows?"he said. Max was walking home from school. His shoulders ached from the weight of his bags and his guitar. While he was walking he heard a voice from behind him that made him smile. "Hey Max!" It was Mallory. "How are you?" she said. "Fine." he said bluntly. "And you?" "I'm great thanks." she said. 'She's so optimistic.' he thought. As they were walking they talked about their days. The conversation went on for a while. When Max told her about Rejeev, she look at him open mouthed. "Your kidding!" she said. Max shook his head, smiling. "Good for him!" she said. "So are you coming to the dance?" she asked. Max shrugged. "If I find the right girl." he said. She nodded her head and they walked on silently. A few minutes later someone shouted for their attention. It was Adam. "Hey Adam." Mallory said. "Hey Adam." Max said. Adam ignored Max. "So Mallory, your coming to the dance with me." he said. "No thanks." she said and began to walk away. Adam grabbed her. "I wasn't asking you. I was telling you." he said. "I don't want to go with you." she said trying to pull herself away. "Leave her alone." Max said. "Get lost, idiot." he said. He pushed him away. "Let me go!" Mallory said, slapping Adam across the face. Adam slapped her back and she fell to the floor. "Leave her alone!" Max said running at Adam with his fists out. Adam was almost twice his size and when Max got close, Adam punched him in the face. Hard. Max fell down. Blood, like a crimson water fall gushed out of his nose. Adam walked up to him. But Max had the advantage. He bent his leg and kicked Adam in the jewels. Adam fell down in pain. Max helped Mallory up. "Run!" he said. All the way to Max's house, they ran. It was dark when they got there. "Stay here tonight." Max said. "That creep might find you if you stay out here. Plus my parents and sister are in England for the week." Mallory nodded. "Thanks for saving me." she said. "Your welcome." Max said smiling at her. She rubbed the back of her hand. "Are you okay?" Max said. "Here." They went inside and Max bandaged up her hand. "Thanks." she said shyly. "No problem." he said. Max sat outside, playing his guitar, thinking. He thought about everything that happened. English, Rejeev and Sarah, Adam. And Mallory. Max smiled. He smiled everytime he thought of her. Mallory. She had beautiful orange hair, like fire, green eyes like the ocean. She was beautiful. She was also standing right behind him. "That song your playing. What's it called?" she asked. "Dance Dance by Fall Out Boy." he replied. "It sounds great." "Thanks." She began to sing while he played. "Dance Dance, we're falling apart at half time, Dance Dance, and these are the lives you love to lead, Dance, this is the waaay she'd love, if she new, how, misery loved me..." 


	2. Kissing in The Rain

Max woke up early that morning. He stood up and walked to the bathroom. He had slept on the couch the night before. He had let Mallory sleep in his bed. He stopped at the door and considered looking inside. He decided against it and walked into the bathroom. Turning on the hot water he began to plan his day. Hopefully Adam would be too sore to go to school today. If he was there, Mallory and Max would have to avoid him or anyone he may have told about what happened. He rubbed his nose and flinched. It hadn't been broken but it was bruised badly. He turned the water off and dried himself. Max realized that he had left his clothes in his room. He rubbed his temples. 'If she's awake this is going to be so awkward.' he thought. Max wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out the of the bathroom. He quietly opened the door and looked inside. She was sleeping peacefully and was snoring lightly. He tip to-ed across the room to where his clothes were strewn across the floor. She stirred and he dived onto the floor. "Max?" she said. She hadn't seen him. He quietly crawled to the door and went back to the bathroom to get changed. Afterwards, he went into the kitchen and cooked scrabbled eggs, toast and bacon. Classic breakfast. Mallory entered, rubbing her eyes. "Morning." said Max. "I made breakfast." "Thanks." she said, smiling at him. He blushed. "Your face is red. Did Adam punch you that hard? Are you okay?" "Huh? Oh! No, I just took a shower." She laughed. "Okay." she looked down silently. "Thanks again for yesterday." "No problem. I'm just glad your okay." "Too bad your not." Mallory said standing up. "Is your nose okay? Did he break it?" She was holding his face now, inspecting him. He blushed till his face has red like a tomato. "Y-yeah." he stammered. "Just a b-b-bruise." "That's a relief!" She said, smiling, making Max blush even more. "Yeah." He picked up his backpack and guitar and placed them by the door. "I'm gonna take a shower and get changed." she said. "Then we can go." Max nodded. Adam wasn't at school. "He called in sick." Rejeev said. Max and Mallory sighed with relief. "Good." Max said to himself. "What was that?" Rejeev said. "Nothing!" Max hastily replied. Spencer and Shanilla walked up and joined the conversation. After a while, it became a totally worthless chat between Spencer, Max and Rejeev about whether Halo was better or Call Of Duty. Mallory and Shanilla left, saying that they had some homework they needed to do. After they had gone, Rejeev looked at Max slyly. "So. Mallory, huh?" he said. Max looked at him. "Mallory what?" he said "Don't play dumb, Max. I know what's going on between you two." Max and Spencer looked at Rejeev. Then at each other. Then back at Rejeev. "Wait." Max said. "You think that there's something between me and Mallory?" "Yeah." Said Rejeev. Max and Spencer were silent. Then they erupted into laughter. "Laugh. Go ahead." Rejeev said. "But I promise you, by the end of the week you'll be head over heels for her." Rejeev and Spencer left, leaving Max alone. He thought for a bit. 'I guess I do kinda like her.' As he walked to his class he saw Shanilla, Paula, Lolo and Mallory talking. He was about to go join in when he heard Mallory say "Max? He's okay I guess." For such simple words, Max had never felt so hurt. "Oh come on, don't deny it. You want him to ask you to the dance." sad Lolo. "What?! No!" said Mallory. "In fact, I want nothing to do with him!" Max just stood there. "Uh, guys?" said Paula pointing towards Max. He didn't see them gasp or giggle as he walked away, but he heard them. And that was enough. Max didn't speak to Mallory for the rest of the day. Not during lunch, or gym or biology, even though she was his lab partner. By the end of the day, he just felt worse. 'How could she say that? After what happened yesterday?' he thought. It was raining as he walked home. The weather seemed to imitate his mood. As he was walking, he heard someone call him. He didn't stop walking. "Max wait!" the voice said. A hand dropped on his shoulder and he turned around. "What Mallory?" he said angrily. "I thought you wanted nothing to do with me." "What are you talking about?" she said. "Spare me your lies. I heard what you said to Lolo." "What? I was lying to make her stop asking about it!" "Whatever." Max said as he turned to walk away. He was on the verge of tears. "Max, please wait!" You could hear the desperation in her voice. "Please!" she shouted. He turned around to tell her to get lost but before he could speak she kissed him. Max was startled but soon found himself enjoying the sensation. He kissed back. Everyone in the school watched through the glass school doors, their mouths open wide. Even Principal Ponzi watched. As she pulled away she looked up at him and said softly, "I love you."


	3. Romeo and Juliet

Max lay on his bed, looking blankly at the ceiling. He was so confused, his head hurt. Girls made life complicated. One moment she's telling her friends how she wants nothing to do with the guy who protected her, the next she's kissing you in front of the whole school. Max put his face into the pillow and groaned. He was frustrated. He had three options. One. Act like the kiss or anything he ever did with Mallory had never happened. Two. Make amends with her. Three. Say to her exactly what she had said to Lolo. He groaned again. 'The easiest way to keep us both happy is to take option two.' he thought. 'Do I love her back? Probably. Do I properly realize it? No. Do I want to realize it. Maybe.' His stomach growled. One more thought entered his mind. 'Am I hungry? No. I'm starving!' He walked out of his room and into the kitchen. He looked in the fridge to see what he could cook. There was left over wheat noodles, pork pieces, soy sauce, soy beans, spinach, water chestnut and carrot. He decided to make pork ramen, a traditional japanese wheat noodle dish. There was no school that day, as the rain had taken out all the electricity, so Max had asked Rejeev and Spencer to come hang out. It hadn't stopped raining since the kiss, and Max liked it. Every time he looked outside he remembered how her lips felt against his, his feelings as he returned the kiss. 'Heck, I even remember what flavour lipstick she was wearing.' He smiled, and almost burnt the pork in the process. It was Wednesday. He glanced up at the flyer Mallory had given to him. Only two days to the dance. He still didn't think much of it. Just then, there was a knock at the door. He opened it and Rejeev and Spencer stepped inside. They hung their coats up and Max quickly ran back to check on his noodles. They sat down and turned the T.V on. "Konichiwa!" Max said as he tossed them both fortune cookies. "Oh boy, asian food!" said Rejeev. "What is this? Chop Sockey Cooks?" Spencer said, putting on his best Japanese accent whilst closing his eyes tightly. Max laughed. He was glad that nobody had mentioned yesterday yet. Yet. But Rejeev was there so anything could happen. "Hey, check it out! My movie made it into a film competition!" Spencer said excitedly. "Told you Zombie Valentine was a good idea!" We congratulated him as we ate our ramen. After a couple of hours of T.V and Xbox, we went into the games room to play pool. Max was taking his shot at the eight-ball when Rejeev said "Oh yeah. Hope you don't mind but Spence and I invited some friends to come join us today. Max adjusted his angle. "That's cool." he said. "Who?" "Oh you know." said Spencer. "Shanilla, Sarah..." I moved till the cue-ball was perfectly in line with the eight-ball. "Mallory." he said. Max's shot went horribly off course and the cue-ball sank into the hole he was aiming at. He coughed nervously. "Mallory?" he asked nervously. "Yeah. Is there a problem?" said Rejeev. "Problem? No! No problem. I'm just gonna go cook some more ramen. You two play." He walked hurriedly out. Rejeev and Spencer looked at the dent Max's stick had made in the cloth. "I think there's a problem." said Rejeev. Sarah arrived first. "Hey Max." she said, propping her umbrella against the wall. "Hey." he said, handing her a bowl of ramen. "Nice going yesterday, romeo." she said smiling. "Oh, yeah thanks." Max faked a smile. "Rejeev's in there." He pointed at the games room. "Thanks." she said. Max watched her walk through the doorway. 'Great.' he thought. 'Now I have a nickname.' Shanilla arrived next. She looked down as she walked up to him. He didn't look at her as he handed her her ramen and pointed at the games room. As she walked away he stopped her. She turned around. "I'm sorry I got mad at you." he said. "I was angry and sad about what Mallory said and I guess I took it out on you." He smiled at her. She smiled back. "Its okay." she said. "Thanks for the ramen!" She walked to the games room. One left. Max waited. He didn't go back to play pool. He sat by the window, looking at the rain and thinking about what he was going to say to Mallory. As he decided on it, there was a knock on the door. He opned it and there she stood. She looked beautiful, with rain glistening in her hair, a shy smile on her lips. "Hi." she said softly. "Hey." he replied. For a while they stood looking at each other. Max only came back to his senses when the hot bowl of ramen he was holding burnt his hand. "Ouch, hot!" he said quickly placing the bowl on the table next to him. "Are you okay?" She took his hand in hers and examined it. "It's okay, I'll just put some ice on it." He smiled at her. She smiled back. He got the ice and she took the ramen. They walked into the games room. "Hey look! It's Romeo and Juliet!" said Rejeev. Mallory laughed. Max didn't. For an hour or so they talked and played darts and snooker. When Max went to grab a drink, Mallory followed. "I need to talk to you. Privately." she said. Max nodded and they went into his bedroom. She shut the door behind him. "Okay," he said. "Explain everything." She took a breath. "The truth is, ever since you moved to Beverly Beverly High i've liked you. At first only a little but over the three years that i've known you, I've come to love you even more. Lolo is always teasing me about it but a week ago she said that if I did anything serious with you, she'd find a way to get you expelled. So yesterday she confronted me about it and you know what happened. During the day I thought about it and I realize that there was no way that Lolo could do that so... you know..." She blushed and smiled shyly. Now he knew what to do. He walked up to her and put his arms her waist. As she looked up at him, he pulled her in for a kiss. This time it was even better then the first one. They broke away and stared at each other. "I love you too." said Max. 


	4. Kryptonite

Everyone had stayed over that night. They played pool, ate popcorn, watched Man U vs Chelsea (guys choice), watched idols (girls choice) and in general just had a good time. Rejeev and Sarah had fallen asleep in the games room, Spencer and Shanilla got the couch's (Spencer had to push the two together so he could sleep next to Shanilla) and Max and Mallory got Max's room. To Max, everything was right in the world while he was lying next to her. He leaned over, brushed Mallory's reddish-brown hair out of her face and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight." he whispered. "Sweet dreams." she whispered back. They fell asleep in each others arms. At around 4:30 AM, Max woke up. He didn't know why, but he did. He couldn't fall back asleep either, so he carefully took Mallory's arm off of him, got changed and he tiptoed out of the room, picking up his guitar as he did so. He opened the door that led to his backyard, and walked towards the gate at the end of it. He lived near the coastline, and there was a path that led down to the beach near his house. As he walked onto the sand he swung his guitar off his back and began to play. Kryptonite, by 3 Doors Down. After he played the opening riff, he began to sing as well. "I took a walk around the world, to ease my troubled mind. I left my body lying somewhere, in the sands of time." Someone else's voice sang as well. "But I watched the world float, to the dark side of the moon. I feel there's nothing I can do. Yeah." Max smiled and stopped playing. He swung his guitar onto his back and turned around. Mallory walked up to him and kissed him. "Why up so early?" She asked. He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep." "The school is still closed. Ponzi says that it'll be open tomorrow." Max just smiled. "So." he said. "Wanna go to the dance with me. She giggled and kissed him again. "Of course!" she said. They just sat together for a while, looking at the ocean. Max looked at her eyes. They were just as beautiful. She stood up. "I'm going back to bed. Don't stay up too long." He nodded. "Put this back for me please." He handed her his guitar. "Sure." After she had gone he stood up, and walked up to the waters edge. He stared out to sea and smiled. The sun was just coming up, over the horizon. "She's so beautiful." he said to no one in particular. "I couldn't agree more." said a voice. Before Max could turn around, he was pushed into the water, sand and salt filling his pockets. He stood up. A tall, strong boy was looking at him, smiling smugly. "Adam." he said menacingly. "Well done on Mallory. I'll admit, I didn't think you'd actually have the guts to tell her, but hey. I've been wrong before." "More times then I can count." said Max. Adam snarled and pulled a knife out of his pocket. Max backed away, further into the water. "Don't do this Adam." he said. "Why shouldn't I? You took Mallory from me. I'm simply getting even." Max crouched down, his hands under the foamy water. "I don't want to fight." he said. "Too bad I do!" Adam screamed, running at Max, the knife pointed at him. Max through the sand he was holding under the water at Adams eyes. "Aaaargh!" Adam screamed as he dropped the knife and rubbed his eyes. Max picked up the knife and threw it into the ocean. Adam ran at Max. This time, Max didn't have a fistful of sand to throw at him. "I'll kill you!" Adam screamed. He pushed Max into deeper water. As Max tried to stand up, Adam grabbed him by the neck and pushed him under. Max pulled at Adams hands put they had a firm hold on him. He needed air! His thoughts became fuzzy. 'No.' he thought. 'Not like this.' He looked up through the water and saw Adam's grinning face. With all his strength, he punched up at it. Even through the water, he heard the crack as his fist collided with Adam's nose. Adam released his grip and fell backwards. Max surfaced, gasping for air. Adam howled in pain, and clutched his nose. Blood gushed out of it and dripped into the water below. Once Max had caught his breath, he ran at Adam, punching him in the face again. Adam stepped backwards, screaming. Max sparta kicked him, and he fell into the water. Max wiped some blood off his lip. "Don't let me ever see you talking to Mallory again." he said. Adam just sat there, blood all over his face and shirt. Max walked back to his house, sure that he wouldn't be having trouble with Adam again. Mallory gasped when she saw Max, with his ripped shirt, bruised knuckles and bloodstained face. She quickly bandaged him up and asked what happened. Max told her about the fight, the knife and Adam's broken nose. She hugged him and cried. He kissed her forehead. "It's okay." he said. "He won't bother you anymore." She kissed him and embraced him. "Thank you." she whispered. "Your my hero." "It's just like the song." he said. "If I go crazy, then will you still call me superman? If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might. Kryptonite." She looked up at him lovingly and said, "Kryptonite." 


	5. Counting Stars

Max only realized how hurt he was after he had started taking a shower. As the hot water hit his back, a searing pain shot through him. He yelled and jumped out of the shower as fast as possible. He got changed and asked Mallory to look at his back. He heard her gasp as she saw it. When Adam had tried to drown him, he had pushed Max onto some jagged rocks. There were cuts, scrapes, bruises. For the deep cuts, Max asked Mallory to stitch them together. She didn't like putting a needle through her boyfriend but she did it anyway. While she was doing this, she realised how muscular Max was. She ran her hands over his torso. "How are you so fit?" she asked. He shrugged. "I kayak and swim in the sea whenever possible and I also do water polo." He put his shirt back on. When he turned around again, he thought she looked a little bit disappointed. He laughed. "So no school again? I do you know why?" "A lot of the roads that lead to the school are closed because of flooding, so Ponzi thought that we should stay at home and see if it clears up tomorrow." For a while after that they just sat on the bed, looking at each other and smiling. "So." Mallory said. "What's your favourite colour?" Max looked at her as if she was crazy. "Hey, I'm just trying to start a conversation. If you've got a better idea, then say so." He didn't have a better idea. He thought for a moment. "Orange. Like the sunset." He said. "Romantic." she said. "Yours?" "Blue. Like your eyes." Max smiled. "Thanks." he said, kissing her forehead. "It's weird." she said suddenly. "How whenever things seem to be just perfect, Adam shows up." Max flinched as she said his name. Then he thought for a bit. "Yeah! It's like someone's telling him where we are and what we're doing." "But to do that, they'd have to be near us a lot, but not be known well enough to be suspected." "I think I know how we can find out who did it." Max said grinning thoughtfully. "This isn't going to work Max." Mallory said. "There are no footprints anywhere!" "Keep looking." he said. "There's bound to be at least one." They were down at the beach again. Max looked at her triumphantly. "There we go, what did I tell you? She rubbed her temples. "Those are YOUR footprints." she said. "Oops." They looked around for a bit longer. They did find footprints, but not footprints that they'd ever seen before. They were triangular shaped at the front, then there was a space and then an small hole. "High-heels." said Mallory. They looked at each other. It all made sense now. Back at the house, everyone was still asleep. "Man, what were they doing while we were asleep?" said Max. They walked into the games room, where Sarah and Rejeev were sleeping. Mallory held a glass of water. She pointed at Sarah. "Go for it." Max said. She poured it on Sarah's head. "Eieeeeeeee!" she screamed. Rejeev was still asleep. "He can sleep through anything!" said Mallory. "What was that for?" Sarah said. "For trying to get me killed!" Max shouted. "What? I would never..." "There's no point in defending yourself. We found your footprints at the beach. Size five high-heels." said Max. "And..." said Mallory holding up an iPhone, "We checked your most recent calls. Adam, Adam, Adam." Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. She knew when she was beaten. "You used Rejeev just to stay closer to us. To bad you where a little too close." Max said. "Now go home." Sarah did what she was told. They watched her go, and waited for a while. "Got the sim card?" said Mallory. "Yip." said Max, crushing it. "Most of it anyway." he said. Rejeev woke up an hour or so later. It was raining again. He scanned the games room, looking for Sarah. He figured she must have gone upstairs to get something to eat. He got dressed and walked to the kitchen, where Max and Mallory were waiting for him. "Where's Sarah?" Rejeev asked. Max put a hand on Rejeev's shoulder and shook his head. "She dumped me?" he said. "Sorry." Rejeev sat down and began to cry. Max had never seen him this sad. Mallory sat down next to him. "It's okay. You were too good for her anyway." Rejeev looked up at her and Max. "Thanks guys. He hugged them both and Max gave him a tissue to dry his eyes. "What's for breakfast?" Rejeev said, returning to his normal self. Before Max could answer, there was a loud knock at the door. Max opened it, and there was Lolo, soaked and shivering with cold. Max noticed that she had been crying. "Is Rejeev here?" she asked. Max nodded and gestured for her to come in. She ran up to Rejeev and before anyone could say anything she hugged him tightly. She began to cry and Rejeev hugged her back. She pulled away. "Rejeev, I just wanted to tell you that now that your in a relationship I realize that even though over the years I've acted like I hate you I actually love you and I'm so, so sorry for acting like a complete jerk when you've been so nice to me. Please forgive me." she hugged him again. "Of course." said Rejeev. As Max watched he slowly closed his hand around Mallory's. She looked at him and smiled. Lolo broke away and looked at Rejeev. She wiped her eyes. "I'll go now." she said. As she turned around to go out the door Rejeev stopped her. "Sarah broke my heart." he said, moving closer to her. "Can you mend it for me?" He kissed her tenderly. Max and Mallory smiled. Rejeev pulled away. "Wanna go catch a movie?" he said. Lolo nodded. Rejeev said goodbye and he and Lolo walked out into the rain, holding each other close. Max took a photo of them walking away together. He looked at Mallory. "Definitely gonna show that one to them at their wedding." Mallory smiled. "Definitely." she said kissing him. Shanilla woke up before Spencer did. Mallory and Max had gone back down to the beach so she was all alone with him. She looked at him tenderly. Everything was perfect. She kissed him on the forehead. He stirred. "Morning handsome." she said. He kissed her. "Hey gorgeous." She giggled. "Where are the others?" he asked. "Max and Mallory went down to the beach and Rejeev went to the movies. "Of course. Max the romantic and Rejeev the predictable. What time is it?" "11:30." Shannila said. "Is it raining?" he asked. "It was 2 hours ago but now it's sunny as ever." "Then let's go join Max and Mallory." he said, pulling the blanket off of himself and Shanilla. He helped her out and packed a bag full of sun cream, towels, and beach stuff. Shanilla carried the bag, while Spencer carried the umbrella and beach chairs. They walked down to the beach. Mallory was on her own when they arrived. She pulled her pulled her sun-glasses off as they approached. "Hey you two!" she said happily. "Hey." said Shanilla. "Where's Max?" Mallory pointed at a dot in the backline. "Kayaking." she said. "Okay." said Shanilla. Spencer had already set up the chairs and umbrella. He walked over, holding a volleyball. "Wanna play?" he asked. "Sure." Mallory and Shanilla said in unison. Spencer laughed. When Max got back from the bacline, they played couples vs couples volleyball, amongst other things. The sun shone, the waves were perfect... Everyone was happy. Spencer caught 2 sea bass and a lobster and Max happily cooked them. They explored rock pools and sea caves, jumped dunes and made beach bread, and they stayed at the beach the whole day. It was night when Rejeev and Lolo arrived. Rejeev explained to the awe-struck Spencer and Shanilla what had happened between him and Sarah. No-one asked anything more about that. They built up a bonfire and sat on the beach, staring at the stars. Max saw a shooting star. "Make a wish." he said to Mallory. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "What'd you wish for?" Max said when she opened her eyes again. "If I tell you, it won't come true." she said. "Fair enough." Suddenly there was a flash and a loud boom. Lolo grabbed Rejeev tightly. "It's just some lightning. We should go." he said. Before long, everything was packed up. "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna stay for a bit." Max said. Mallory stayed as well. They sat together in silence for a while. Suddenly, it began to rain. They stood up and looked into each others eyes. "All in all, quite a successful day." Max said, rain soaking his clothes. "Yeah." Mallory said. They moved closer. "On tuesday, when you said you loved me, did you really mean it?" he asked. She held onto his neck. "Of course." she said. He held her waist. They kissed tenderly. For a long time, they didn't break away, until it began to rain harder. As they walked back up to the house, Max asked her, "Did you get your wish?" She looked at him and smiled. "And then some." 


	6. Lights, Camera, Action!

Friday the 14th of February. Valentines Day. Everyone at Max's house woke up at basically the same time. Max packed his bag and waited outside the bathroom while Lolo "finished" with her shower. "Girls take forever, am I right?" Max asked as Spencer walked past, brushing his teeth. Spencer nodded, tooth paste dripping from his mouth. Max heard the water stop running and knocked on the door. "Just a minute!" Lolo said. "You've already said that." said Max Lolo walked out the door. "Well someone's impatient." she muttered indignantly. As Max was about to walk into the bathroom, Shanilla walked past him. "Sorry, won't be a minute!" she said. Max sighed School felt different to Max now. In one week so much had changed. He'd made a new enemy, got his first kiss, Rejeev got a girlfriend, noses were broken... Max smiled. Walking through the doors he saw Mallory crouching by her locker and gesturing for him to come closer. "What is it?" "Look for yourself." She pointed at a group of three boys. One was short and had a scar on his left cheek, the other was medium height and had three pimples on his forehead. The last one was huge and had a banage over his nose. "Adam." Max said quietly. Adam began to walk to his class. If he continued on the route he was taking, he would see Max and Mallory. They ducked behind a crowd of students and waited for Adam to pass. When it was safe they sighed and stood up straight. "What class do you have now?" Mallory asked. "Math. You?" "English. It looks like the only class we're in at the same time today is Biology in the last period, so I guess I'll see you at lunch." "Yeah. See you then." He ran up to his class as she waved goodbye to him. As she turned to walk to her class she heard some girls talking about Max and Adam. She walked closer to hear better. "...so Max walked up to Adam and punched him in the face while he was walking home from school. Then he kicked him in the balls and ran away." "No!" "Yeah! And then, two days later, Max attacked him at the beach. When Adam dodged a punch, Max fell into deep water and when Adam tried to help him up, Max broke his nose!" "He's such a dick! And I used to like him. Who told you this?" "Adam." Mallory walked away. Of course Adam had spread lies about Max. They should of seen this coming. She had a feeling things were about to get out of hand... Adam clenched and un-clenched his fist as he walked to his class. He was itching to punch Max. The rumours he had spread had done their job. Max and Mallory wouldn't be able to get anyone to help them. It was only a matter of time before he finally got even with Max. He rubbed the bandage on his nose. He would do it after the dance. "He's done it now." Mallory had just finished telling Max about the rumours. He wasn't taking it well. "We have to end this. It's more then getting a girl anymore." he said. "But no one will help us. They think Adam's the victim!" Max thought for a moment. "Spencer will. He's my best friend. He has to." "But how will he able to help? He makes films, he doesn't fight." "Exactly. The next time Adam confronts me, I'll have Spencer record it. Then we'll send the footage to Ponzi and Adam will be expelled." "Perfect. But when do you think Adam will want to fight again?" "I have a feeling it'll be sometime after the dance. We just have to be ready." "Why did you never tell me before?" said Spencer. He and Max were walking up to water-polo practice when Max had told him about Adam. "I didn't want to bother you about it since you had your film to worry about, plus after the beach fight I didn't think Adam would try pull a stunt like this." "Yeah I heard the rumours. Didn't believe them for a second though." "So it's settled then? You'll do it?" Spencer fist-bumped him. "Yeah. I'm in. 


	7. Truth Hurts

Mallory "I'm so excited! Max said that he was going to surprise me somehow at the dance!" "And Spencer said that he had something "special" planned for afterwards!" "And my Daddy rented us a limo to go in!" Shanilla, Mallory and Lolo were all getting ready to go to the dance. Shanilla wore a pink skirt and a black sleeveless top, Lolo wore a powder blue maxi vest and dress and Mallory wore a floral black and red slip dress. "This is going to be amazing!" Max "Hold still! Hang on, got... Hey, don't squirm!" Max was trying to help Spencer with his jacket collar but Spencer wasn't being helpful. "Okay, there. I got it. Now don't touch your collar or i'll have to fix it again." "Thanks Max." Rejeev stepped into the bathroom. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could Spencer looked at him and said, "Really Rejeev, your wearing snap-back to a valentines dance?" "What can I say? I have a style." "If that's style, then I should be on a catwalk." said Spencer. "Very funny. As soon as you two stop laughing, can I tell you my news?" "Go ahead." said Max. "Thank you. Okay, so Lolo bugged her dad yesterday and somehow managed to get him to rent a limo to take us all to the dance." "When dose it arrive?" asked Max. "In half an hour." Before Rejeev had finished speaking Max had bolted for his closet. While he looked through his clothes he went on a rant. "Why are you only telling me this now?! I literally JUST got out the shower! Now I have to rush and..." This rambling went on for a while. Eventually, with ten minutes to spare, Max was done. "How do I look?" he asked. He was wearing a blue denim jacket with a white under- shirt, loose cargo pants and a guitar pic necklace. Spencer was wearing a leather jacket, a blue shirt with "Keep calm and shoot another scene" written on it in white letters and black skinny jeans and Rejeev was wearing a red hoodie with a green quicksilver t-shirt underneath and jeans. "WE," Spencer said. "look awesome." "Yup." said Rejeev. His stomach made a growling sound. "I'm gonna go get something to eat" he said. Max and Spencer waited until he was in the kitchen. "You got the camera?" Max asked. Spencer nodded. "Do you really want to go through with this? What if you get hurt? Think about Mallory, or me, or Rejeev. How would we feel if you were injured because of this?" "I am thinking about you. That's exactly why I have to do this. If I don't then Adam will continue to abuse Mallory and hurt you guys." Spencer frowned but didn't argue. "Okay. It's settled then. But be careful." Max nodded. "Hey guys! The limo's here!" Rejeev called. Spencer looked up at Max, who was quite a bit taller then him. "Let's put this out of our minds until after the dance and just enjoy the night." he said. Max picked up his guitar. "Why do you need that?" Spencer asked. "You'll see. Now let's go, or Lolo will have our heads served to Rejeev on a silver platter." Max/Mallory The limo was bigger then any of them had expected. There was enough room for them to stand and walk around in and there was a mini fridge and TV as well. Spencer stared in awe. "How much did this cost?" "Oh, I dunno, a couple thousand dollars." Spencer's jaw dropped. "To rent for one night?!" "No. To buy." "You bought the limo?!" "No. Daddy bought the limo company." Spencer couldn't speak properly. While everyone was occupied with the gadgets in the limo, Max spoke to Mallory about the filming plan. "So he'll do it?" she asked. "Yeah. Mallory, I don't think that you should be there when I fight Adam. It could be dangerous and he might hurt you." She looked astounded. "Yeah, but he might hurt you!" "I know for certain that he WILL hurt me. Badly as well. Those two thugs will probably be there, backing him up and I don't want you to be there when they give me a beat-down." "But you can take them! I know you can." "So do I but for this to work the film has to make them look like abusive fools, not victims. Just promise me you'll stay away." Mallory looked uncertain but nodded anyway. "Alright." she said. Max smiled. "It'll all be fine. I promise." he said kissing her forehead. "Thank you." The limo stopped and the driver announced that they had arrived. Max took Mallory's hand. "Here we go." he said. The dance committee had done an amazing job. There were strobe lights, laser's, a disco ball, refreshment tables and even a live DJ. "Wow!" said Shanilla as she walked inside. "This is awesome!" There were students showing there skill on the dance floor, trying to beat the record on the mechanical bull and those few who just hung around in the shadows or waited outside, smoking. Max looked at them and shivered, a memory coming back to him. He was driving home from a holiday spot when he was 6 and there was a huge field full of trenches next to the road. Some teenagers were digging more of them. "If I ever catch either of you smoking just for fun or taking drugs, I will send you here to dig trenches for the rest of your life." his mom had told him and his sister. Mallory grabbed his arm, snapping out of his daydream. "C'mon!" she said as she dragged him to the dance floor. They all danced, simply going crazy. This was a dance were nobody questioned the way you moved. Fortunately for Spencer who only knew an Irish jig. After around forty-five minutes of dancing the group sat down, panting and sweating. Lolo looked around the gym. "Has anyone seen Rejeev?" she asked. "Not since we started dancing..." Max replied. "but he might be over there." He pointed towards a large group of people standing in a circle. Two figures were standing in the circle and sure enough, one of them was Rejeev. He was standing, watching Kleet break-dance. "It's a dance off." said Mallory. "And it looks like Rejeev is losing." "Just watch. I know how my brother dances." said Shanilla. Kleet finished his dance and grinned triumphantly at Rejeev. Rejeev waited. The music pumped higher and louder. Rejeev still waited. Higher, louder. Rejeev waited. As the beat dropped he jumped and as he landed he broke into the fastest break-dance move that any of them had seen before. When he finished, Kleet stood there, too surprised for words. The crowd lifted Rejeev into the air and declared him the victor. He grinned. "That was amazing!" Lolo exclaimed, kissing him. The crowd gasped. Lolo and Rejeev blushed. "Um... yeah, Rejeev is my boyfriend now." The crowed stared. Then congratulated Rejeev for his unbelievable achievement. Lolo looked at him and remembered how she had turned up at Max's door, soaked by rain and tears, asking to see Rejeev. She smiled and kissed Rejeev again. "Let's go back to my house." Rejeev was about to ask why and then realised what she was REALLY asking him. He kissed her. "Sure." The two of them said their goodbyes and left. Max looked at Spencer. "Their goes our ride." he said. "We can just walk back to your place." replied Spencer. "If I can still walk." Max whispered. Spencer laughed. A girl spoke into the microphone on the stage that had been set up. "Is everyone having a good time?!" the girl asked. "YEAH!" screamed the crowd. "Awesome! Well, your gonna have an even better time in a sec. Just bear with us as we set up the stage." "I gotta go. Be back in a minute." Max said. Mallory watched him go. "Maybe he's getting his "surprise" ready." said Shanilla. Mallory laughed. "Maybe." Max stepped back-stage and the girl with the mic walked up to him. "Thanks for the announcement Paula." "No problem. Thanks for offering to perform." Max smiled. He walked over to the three other people standing backstage, each with there own instrument. Jack on drums, Andrew on keyboard and Nikki on bass. "You guys ready?" "Hell yeah." Nikki answers, flicking her dark hair backwards. "Great. I'm gonna go grab my guitar and then we're on. Don't freak out if i'm a bit late." He walked away. "Hey Max?" "Yeah Andrew?" "...what are we playing?" Max nearly had a heart attack. "Kidding!" laughs Andrew. Max rolls his eyes. Typical Andrew. "Beverly Beverly High, are you ready to rock?!" The crowd roared. "Alright then!" said Paula. "Please welcome..." Nikki stepped out from backstage. "Nikki Heat on bass," Kevin stepped out, giving a rockers salute. "Kevin Ceder on drums," Andrew next. "Andrew Reiny on keyboard," Max walked on with a grin. " "...and Max Milella on guitar and vocals!" The crowd cheered as Max walked over to the mic. "We're gonna be playing "What I've Done" by Linkin Park. You already know our names. We are..." the band all joined here, "Voice!" It was the best performance they had ever had. Everything was perfect. No timing errors, no wrong notes, no screwed-up solos... The list goes on. After the performance, everyone was congratulating them, asking when they would perform again (to which Andrew replied "Soon.") and asking to join. Max could barely get away to talk to Mallory. They walked along the empty corridors of the school, feeling the cold air on their skin, holding each others hands. When they reached the pool, they lay on the grass near it and looked at the stars, Mallory lying on Max's lap. "That was incredible." Mallory said. Max bent his head down to kiss her lips. "Thanks." he said. They were quiet once again. After a bit Mallory broke silence. "Max, I don't want you to fight..." "Mallory. I thought we weren't going to talk about this." She stopped and lay back down on him. He didn't hear her cry but when he looked down, moonlight was glinting off of the tears running down her face. He got onto his knees to look at her, but she didn't make eye contact. "Mallory." She didn't look up. He tilted her head. "I'll be absolutely fine. I promise." That was her breaking point. She burst into tears and buried herself in his chest. Max held her close and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. It'll all be okay. I'm ending this." "Thank you. Thank you so much." They kissed. Not an 'I'm kissing you cause it feels nice' or an 'I'm kissing you because your my girlfriend' kiss. It was an 'I love you so much more then you realize and I want to show it to you in the most romantic way possible' kiss. As they broke away, they looked into each others eyes. "I love you Max." Mallory said. "I love you too." 


	8. Run to The Water

I feel the wound in my arm throb as I lie here. Everything had been going so well and I thought we may not even need to film this thing. And then... I feel tears well up in my eyes. Hard to do when your underwater. Yeah, I'm 8 feet deep in the ocean. Not bad. If you aren't tied to a block of concrete. I scream and tug at my restraints with my one functional arm and bubbles fly out my mouth. Ok, not a good idea to LOSE air. My vision blurs. This is it. But perhaps I should tell you how this happened. Mallory and I were lying by the pool, INCREDIBLY happy. We got up to leave and I saw Spencer and told him to get ready to film. He said Shanilla was already at my house. He started filming as I began to look for Adam. I'd sent Mallory home already so I wasn't worried about her getting hurt. Heh. First big mistake. I couldn't find Adam so Spence and I decided to head home. He congratulated me on my performance and I thanked him for trying to help me. As we were walking I noticed a figure behind us. I jerked my head back to let Spence know. He nodded and walked to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The figure remained behind me.

'Great.' I thought. 'Now I've got some weird guy (or girl) following me. Oh well.' I then texted Spencer and told him to head home. I looked at him nervously but I motioned for him to go. Second big mistake. I walked alone (excluding my stalker) for a block. Reaching an alley, I turned and gazed at the person behind me. He was shorter then me, and wore a black cloak and hood to conceal himself. I saw something glint beneath it.

'Knife.' I instantly thought. In one swift motion, he took a step towards me and swung the knife at me. I barely dodged it, feeling the air brush my face as I stumbled backwards to avoid the blade. It was a swiss army knife. The type that cuts through metal. I turned to run, forgetting that the alley was a dead end. Third big mistake. The pain shot across my back as my attacker brought the knife down on it in a wide arc. Blood trickled onto the floor. I dive down, narrowly avoiding a second wound. Taking advantage of my coiled legs, I tackled my adversary. As we came down, I jabbed then knife into my left arm. I screamed and slapped it out of his hand. I managed to get him in a choke-hold. He struggled but wasn't able to break my grip. As I looked at his hands flailing uselessly I caught a glimpse of pink on his nails.

'Nail polish?' I pulled the hood off of him/her. I found myself staring into the bright blue eyes of Sarah Connelly. I honestly wasn't that surprised.

"I should've known it was you." I said. She looked away.

"He gave me no choice."

"Who, Adam? Did he threaten you?" She didn't answer but rolled her head to one side. There was a large bruise on her face.

"You should've gone to the police."

"Why? I would've liked killing you." I was silent for a moment.

"Now I really wish you'd gone to the police." I said grimly, raising my one good arm.

"Why?" she answered.

"Because then I wouldn't have to do this."

My fist hit her hard on her un-bruised cheek, knocking her out. I stood up and walked away. She wouldn't tell anyone what happened. Not after she tried to kill me. I turned a corner and smiled. It was finally over. No more fights, no more running, no more broken noses. Everything was going to be fine. I turned a corner and didn't even have time to react to the baseball bat coming down on my head. I stumbled forward and hit the floor. And everything went black...

So that's how I wound up here, 8ft deep underwater, drowning, bleeding heavily in two places, and probably attracting sharks. Great way to end my story. Speaking of which, I'm blacking out again and I'm seeing pretty blue and red lights, so I may as well get this out there. Mallory. Even in death, I will love you. Goodbye...


End file.
